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Original poster

Tim Dowling, for example, is a twat

488 replies

Robespierre · 17/05/2009 16:28

..who writes moderately entertaining columns about his personal life in The Guardian. Yesterday's was about the perils of self-googling, and in particular of an episode of self-googling which returned the text 'Tim Dowling for example is a twat'

Where did he find that humbling line?? On mumsnet of course!

In the article he claims to have given up self-googling, but we know that isn't true, don't we.

Shall we give him a few more personal insights? I think he is less of a twat than Jon Ronson and he doesn't have a whiney voice.

OP posts:
pointydog · 17/05/2009 22:12

"hassled you are not wrong, as a twat might say"

oh I lolled at that, var funny, stuff

This is an ace thread.

I think we should thank Tim Dowling and Robespierre

pointydog · 17/05/2009 22:13

a woman can so be a twat. But it is true that there are far more male twats in teh world than female. Ironically.

TheCrackFox · 17/05/2009 22:21

Peaches Geldof isn't a twat, she is a dick.

Would someone please agree with me about Ricky Gervais?

Hassled · 17/05/2009 22:22

PaulaYates - is your RL name Uhuru?

Hassled · 17/05/2009 22:22

CrackFox - Ricky Gervais is a twat.

You're not wrong

PaulaYatesBiggestFan · 17/05/2009 22:23

lol no!

I did not even know of this star trek character but there is one!

pointydog · 17/05/2009 22:23

hmmmmm, I quite like gervaise

MissM · 18/05/2009 08:33

Guardian reader alert, but I would nominate Simon Hoggart who is truly a twat. Sometimes I read his columns just for the adrenalin rush of raising my blood pressure and snarling at the newspaper. Utter twat.

Original poster
Robespierre · 18/05/2009 09:19

If you google "Tim Dowling" right now, the first page of results includes thecrackfox saying "if the majority of Mumsnet think he is a twat, then he must be a twat."

OP posts:
slug · 18/05/2009 10:08

One for the Londoners...

Nick Ferrari is, in fact, a twat.

travellingwilbury · 18/05/2009 10:11

Nick Ferrari should be listed in the dictionary under Twat

MirandaG · 18/05/2009 10:20

Tim Dowling is not a twat.Read 'All the President's emails' (in the Guardian, I think on a Monday).
Boris is a twat. Or maybe a twit. Or both.
Jonathan Ross ia a misogynist pig.

MirandaG · 18/05/2009 10:22

oops 'is'. Still irate over his treatment of the woman with a PhD in zoology on Fri, in contrast to the fawning adoration of Eminem ffs (and I quite like Eminem)

OlympedeGouges · 18/05/2009 10:22

Tim Dowling has made his very living out of being a twat, no? In a very British, self deprecating 'I'm such a twat' way. He can be very funny, but is getting a touch self- indulgent in his twatness. Bit like Jon Ronson. It was great when Jon Ronson's wife came on. 'Are you all in institutions?' was one of her memorable lines. I liked her.

Jeremy Clarkson is of course the biggest twat
who secretly thinks he isn't.

Original poster
Robespierre · 18/05/2009 10:23

I don't really think he is a twat. He is and I hope he is reading this with emphasis on the word "quite" quite funny.

Don't much like All the Pres's Emails, though.

OP posts:
giantkatestacks · 18/05/2009 10:24

Oliver James gets my back right up - much more of a twat than Tim Dowling - who at least doesnt try and make me guilty about my parenting every weekend by telling me that I have damanged my child for using a nursery/shouting occasionally/letting them cry for more than 30secs.

giantkatestacks · 18/05/2009 10:25

or even damaged...

Hassled · 18/05/2009 10:25

Yes, Mrs Ronson (Elaine?) was great.

TD does do the whole British self-deprecating thing well, but he is actually American.

Original poster
Robespierre · 18/05/2009 10:26

Oh, yes, Oly, the self-deprecation is a bit twatty. It is saying 'I am big and modest and self-confident enough to acknowledge my flaws' but at the same time saying 'I am useless, dear wife, so you do it all'. Using a national column to maintain the total-lifestyle equivalent of not being able to wash up because you don't understand the dishwasher.

OP posts:
OlympedeGouges · 18/05/2009 10:27

is he Hassled? I imagine him with this half- Estuary, half-sloane accent.

OlympedeGouges · 18/05/2009 10:29

he might as well MN all day rather than google himself Robes. At least he might learn something interesting whilst neglecting the children...

Ohforfoxsake · 18/05/2009 10:30

Boris Johnson, for example, is a twat.

No, actually he is Grand Lord Twat of Twattage, Twattageshire, Twatston.

MirandaG · 18/05/2009 10:30

Most of that Oliver James column is just badly summarised extracts from his books

KingRolo · 18/05/2009 10:34

Sting, for example, is a twat.

Have we had him yet?

Boco · 18/05/2009 10:34

Tim Dowling for example, is one columnist I find quite amusing.

One of my all time favouritest mn moments was when Jon Ronson had emailed Aitch to tell her off and his wife Elaine came on to ask us all if we lived in institutions. I still chuckle about it often.